Crafting, creating, self sufficiency, recycle\reuse. These things best describe what I am all about.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Sheep to Shawl Class

I had the opportunity to take a "Sheep to Shawl" class weekend before last. It was amazing! I am officially a Fiber Arts Junkie. The Ozark Folk Center is a wonderful place to visit, shop, learn. Jeanette Larson was our instructor, you can find her at Common Threads. The class was 3 whole days of learning. We started with a shearing demonstration of a sheep (Demi) and a goat (he was very cute but had a name I just didn't quite catch). Then we washed the wool and mohair, learned how to use a drop spindle, how to card fibers and blend colors with the cards. We spent a whole day learning different dye techniques and dyes. Did you know you can dye with Koolaid! Seriously, we mixed up a double strength gallon without the sugar, added some wool, let it soak in the sun for a few hours and when we took the wool out, the water was barely tinted. The wool had soaked up all the dye! The last day was spent learning how to weave with different looms. We worked on a rigid heddle loom, we "warped" it and then we each wove a small section on it.

We ran the threads through. If your making a long piece, you need quite abit of room.

I was so busy absorbing all this knowledge that I didn't take pictures, except on the last day. But I promise as I go about doing all these things on my own, I'll take pictures and share.